Uzumaki Kachiki and the Wondrous World of Fuinjutsu
by Tamani
Summary: She remembers dying. Remembers voices telling her of this world. Her instincts tell her she was reborn. She is inclined to believe them. She is reborn as Uzumaki Kachiki, twin to Uzumaki Naruto. Watch as this changes absolutely nothing and everything. From Kiri purges to sharingarms, nothing is safe from Kachiki and her fuinjutsu. Semi-serious AU OC-insert.
1. Chapter 1

**Ch. 1: Rebirth**

She has been sharing this dark room with two people to her knowledge. One, to what she assumed was her twin. Another to something large, ominous, and fluffy. She was content to just float and exist, waiting for her time to leave her mother and breathe on her own.

Fate had other plans.

The only thing that Uzumaki Kachiki remembers about her birth was _red._ Everything was red. Hair, blood, fur, the sky. Sight, unlike hearing, is not developed in a newborn; Kachiki was only able to make out drastic changes in colour. She could tell you that her dad had light hair, and her mother dark in comparison, but while she couldn't _see_ red, a little voice in her head _purred_ in agreement. Deciding to trust in this voice, Kachiki decided she would be safest with her mother and her twin. Listening to her mother mumble in Japanese much as she did when the two were in the womb was comforting.

A pause in conversation and Kachiki blearily wakes up from nodding off to see someone leaning over her little family. Something warm and squishy is pushing against her face, and she flails her limbs to move them away. A low chuckle and Kachiki realizes that she knows this voice, that she often fell asleep to it while in her mother's womb. This must be her father. She allows him to pick her up.

A voice has informed her of this world, where magic is called chakra and has more restrictions. How the world works. While Kachiki may not want to become a shinobi, she realizes that is the best option. She has no taste for killing, even after many lives she's lived; she still finds that humans can surprise anyone. Kachiki still holds tight to the belief that humans want to be good, want to change the world. However, many seek that through suffering, vengeance, and hate. The chakra of her father, mother, and brother wash upon her like the sea, ebbing and flowing and oh so peaceful. Soon she finds herself falling asleep listening to it and her parent's talk.

"-named her after a boy?" Her father sounds resigned and amused as he places her back with her mother and brother.

"Of course! We thought it was both boys! Kachiki is a great name dattebane! A determined and unyielding spirit! Our baby won't know the meaning of giving up! She can do anything! If anyone says otherwise, they're gonna have to answer to me!" Minato is laughing in response and Kachiki knows that she will treasure this peaceful moment her entire life.

Seconds later, her perfect moment is ripped apart.

Someone has taken her from her father, ripped her out of her mother's sleeping hands. She was moved at such a high speed it was jarring; is this the power of shinobis? Kachiki starts to cry from the feeling.

"Give her back." She can hear the threat lacing her father's words. Her brave father, who is a raging ocean, only gripping onto his son and knowing that at least he is out of this mad man's grasp, It is as if his threat has turned tangible, and suddenly his calm chakra has become a malevolent storm, thick and choking her lungs as she struggles to breathe in air.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Minato." The voice sounds unbelievably smug. "Your precious daughter seems to be chakra sensitive." Suddenly the air lets up and she gasps in as much air as she can. "Now step away from your wife." The feeling of weightlessness, a sizzling sound, and moving at too high speeds happens in the matter of seconds.

"It's okay Kachiki, let's go put you with Naruto and tou-chan can go get kaa-chan, okay?" In one step she travels from outside to an enclosed room. It feels like she stepped through a hole and came out the other end. Not jarring or anything, just an odd but a pleasant sensation. She wouldn't mind doing that again. That type of travelling seems just fine to Kachiki. Much better than port keys or apparition.

She has no idea how long she has been in the bed with Naruto, her brother, before she feels her tou-chan and kaa-chan has come back. Kaa-chan looks much worse than she was; her chakra feels extremely drained. Kachiki falls asleep to her Kaa-chan and brother cuddling her.

oOo

She stirs when she hears her parents arguing. They need to seal the Kyuubi, but kaa-chan is upset at tou-chan for something. She's crying and grasping and tou-chan. Next thing she hears is a thump and her kaa-chan is picking up both of her children.

"Remember you two that kaa-chan loves you both, and eat your vegetables, and listen to your tou-chan even if he doesn't know what he is talking about sometimes, I want you to listen to him anyways and always tell him if something goes wrong. I have to go now, and seal the fox. I'm sorry to both of you, the fox has to be sealed in an Uzumaki, and you are the only two left. Kaa-chan isn't strong enough to hold it anymore. That's a pretty shitty legacy isn't it dattebane?" Kaa-chan laughs, but her laugh isn't happy, her chakra is crying now. Kachiki doesn't know how to make it better so she just listens to her kaa-chan's voice and feels her chakra. "Tou-chan forgets that I'm a seals mistress too and taught him the Hakke no Fuin Shiki. It's from my clan, our clan – the Uzumaki. I'm sorry I won't be able to teach you fuinjutsu, but your tou-chan can if you want to learn it." She places both Kachiki and Naruto down in the middle of candles and says "SEAL."

All Kachiki feels is _painpainpain_. All she hears is screaming. Her father has woken up; she's abruptly jarred before hearing the voice from before. His chakra is mixed, as if he was patched together from a bunch of different pieces. She dubs him Patches. It becomes hard to breathe again; she's feeling pressure from where her mom sealed the Kyuubi, and from all around her, suffocating her. Is she really going to die so soon into being reborn?!

"Maa, Minato, what did I tell you about the killing intent." Things become so quiet, there is no chakra trying to shove itself down her throat, in comparison the silence is deafening. "I think we best be off, you have your son and your Kyuubi and I'll have this beautiful baby girl and _her_ Kyuubi. A shame you won't be able to see her grow up Minato." A scream of rage, denial, anger heralds her disappearance into the night with Patches.


	2. Adopted in Kirigakure

AN: don't own Naruto.

Thank you for all the reviews and follows! I hope that you continue to like the story and please feel free to drop in a review! I always answer them! To the guest (1) review: you are pretty close to what may happen in the future, so stay tuned!

 **Ch 2: Adopted in Kiri**

Utakata was a normal shinobi raised from Kirigakure. If one acceded that he was a jinchuriki, that his shishou had **_not_** tried to kill him a year prior, was a self-professed nuke-nin that stayed within Mizu no Kuni, and whatever else he just stumbled upon. Nevertheless, other than that he was a normal 14 year old. Just add hunter-nin and minus a shinobi team. Which, granted during a civil war was not **that** abnormal.

Utakata was wandering around the western islands, closest to Uzu no Kuni when he heard a cry. Perhaps Utakata was considered cynical and jaded after the man he trusted, and would willing give his life, to try to take away Saiken, his only other confidante, but he was not heartless. It helped that Saiken was all for figuring out what was going on did he push away the shrubs to reveal a baby that had to have been only days old. Fiery red hair was sticking up in complete disorder, with baby blues eyes that had specks of violet in them. Saiken made a murmuring agreement while requesting Utakata reach out with his chakra.

He noticed two things about it after confirming her gender; one, he was positive that she was a jinchuriki, and two; Saiken thought she was an Uzumaki. Well, they _were_ near Uzushiogakure; it would be completely possible that she hailed from that village – were it not destroyed in a previous war. All that gave away to any sign of life being here was the letter that was pinned to her blanket. Utakata picked it up to scan it.

'Kachiki-chan,

We're sorry but we cannot take care of you. You have been sealed with a bijuu; the very thing that killed your kaa-chan. You look so much like her I would not be able to bear to watch you grow up looking like her. I also fear that with your looks, you will inherit the Uzumaki kekkei genkai and I am afraid I would have to hand you over to be killed. I can only hope that whoever finds you takes you in regardless of your afflictions.

-Tou-chan'

 _Well._ Utakata thought. _What a horrible human being._ Turning to pick up Kachiki, Utakata resolves to drop off the child at the nearest orphanage as far from Kirigakure he can get.

oOo

A day later Utakata's resolve crumbles as he decides that he will be bringing Kachiki with him on his travels. Anyone worth their kunai would be able to tell that she's a jinchuriki and with Mizu no Kuni in a semi-civil war it would just be asking for her to be raised as a killing machine. While a shinobi knows their duty, both Utakata and Saiken in their good conscious could not ruin a life so drastically. It would be a kinder fate just to kill her. With this is mind, he vows that he will give her a better raising than any other jinchuriki child has had before him.

oOo

"Chichiue! Look at me!" Kachiki is frolicking in one of the nearby lakes, showing her father how well she can swim.

"I see you Kachiki, good job!" Utakata responds absentmindedly. The two usually stay around the boarder, as far from Kirigakure they can get. The longest they've been able to stay in a village is 8 months. Hunter-nin have started to become more infrequent, allowing them to settle in the less violent areas of Mizu no Kuni. The civil war – more recently being called the Purges, have been steadily moving outwards from Kirigakure, and soon Utakata feels no place will be safe. Now they can only afford to stay in a single place for a week at maximum. Utakata has finally decided that they can afford to take a rest for a few days in the little grove he's found on one of the islands. Kachiki is soon to be turning 3 and Utakata is thinking about starting her on formal shinobi education. She has picked up many little things these past three years, but being in Kiri during such a tumultuous time for anyone with a kekkei genkai they haven't had any time to learn anything other than hiding their chakra and evasive manoeuvres.

Kachiki needs to begin learning because Utakata knows that he may not always be there and would much rather have her be able to be somewhat competent in her skills. Tomorrow he will have to start her on the basics of chakra control and manipulation. He can tell that she has potential as a budding sensor – he sees the signs of chakra hypersensitivity but had no idea how to help her other than repeated exposure to _a lot_ of chakra. He figures he will be dealing with many 'sink or swim' moments with her.

oOo

Kachiki is now 6 and is flourishing under her Chichiue, Utakata. She constantly dreams about places far away from Kiri and Mizu no Kuni; places where people wear funny clothes, talk weird, and no one fights. She assumes that outside of Mizu no Kuni this is what the world is like. When she dreams about this, she gets a sort of ache in her heart but pushes past it, because surely one day she'll get out with Chichiue and they will get to see this outside world. She remembers very little prior to her fourth birthday, she only remembers impressions of chakra and the feeling of loneliness before meeting Chichiue. Chichiue has been the best father Kachiki can ever ask for. He always helps her with her katas and kenjutsu. He tried to teach her ninjutsu but her control was still so atrocious that she was put on chakra control exercises until she gets better, she's only ever good when she has to use up such large amounts of chakra that it's not a matter of control but rather quantity.

She reasons that she doesn't really need to be the best in ninjutsu, as long as she always has her swords and her body, she can fight the good fight. Chichiue just looks pained at this and always counters that it is good to have a backup plan. She's not very impressed – especially when she knows that she won't _need_ a backup plan because she doesn't think she'll really want to fight anyways.

They never really stay in one place, always wandering around and avoiding people. Kachiki is very good at sneaking around, using her natural chakra sense to let Chichiue know if anyone is following them. She asked about becoming a real shinobi, _not just learning little tricks Chichiue!_ and Chichiue said that she could do it but would have to leave him unless she learnt only from him. She had no problems with that but Chichiue was a task master! She's been training since she could walk, Chichiue has pressed upon her many times how dangerous it is being a missing-nin like him, if **anyone** catches them, they will be separated. Kachiki won't let anyone take away her Chichiue.

They hardly run into anyone that tries to attack them – Kachiki's sensing lets them avoid the majority of densely packed chakras. Chichiue said that they will have to practice turning off her chakra senses sometime, because if Kachiki was too reliant on them and then she wasn't able to fight without them, it would certainly mean her death. What Chichiue fails to understand is that for Kachiki it is akin to cutting off her arm. Her hypersensitivity to chakra may have been terrible to begin with – _headaches that never went away, too many peopleplacesthings_ _ **nature**_ _that she was connected too, emotions she rather not feel – hatreddisgustfearlust_ – but in the long run (and after **Kami** knows how much exposure to vast amounts of chakra – human and bijuu) it has only helped them.

If she was to be frank, she knows that she is marginally less useful without her chakra sensing, and Kirigakure is all about usefulness. Despite not being raised within its walls, Chichiue was very much a Kirigakure shinobi and much of Kirigakure's morals are instilled in her. So far, she's lasted 5 minutes in a spar without her chakra sensing turned on.

With so much violence going on around them she can't afford to have it turned off anytime soon. The Purges are getting worse. All of Mizu no Kuni is in turmoil now – there's rumours and whisperings of a barrier being put around Kirigakure because of the rebellion factions trying to overthrow the Mizukage – a man Chichiue calls Yagura. She's sensed him before – a mishmash of chakras swamp his presence at all times – Kachiki calls this looming entity Patches – it seems vaguely familiar in the way that she should recognize this chakra but knows there is no way as she's never been to Kirigakure. Chichiue is not impressed.

They haven't stayed in an inn for a single day in months. Anyone is liable to turn Chichiue in or pass on the fact that they have seen him. He suspects that the rebellion is trying to get their hands on a jinchuriki to wage war against Yagura – a sure fire way to attack a jinchuriki. He thinks that if they get close enough to him then they will see Kachiki and want her too, for reasons that she doesn't know – _leverage_ she supposes. It has him so spooked that he is talking about leaving Mizu no Kuni. The other faction has been getting desperate – more ninja are trying to track him down, and if any see them, they have to be killed lest they report back. Chichiue says that is the way of the Bloody Mist now; they cannot afford to have people report back to their superiors. Kachiki thinks this is a poor way to live but knows he's right. They cannot afford much either way. She's 6 now and already has a handful of kills under her belt. The easiest way to dispatch the ninja after all, is to have Chichiue play bait while Kachiki strikes. She only needs one shot and she's been hiding her chakra for years. Chichiue merely spreads his out to encompass everyone in the area and it's nearly impossible to Kachiki to be detected. Chichiue's only 20 but he says that he can see it is about to get much worse. Kachiki's short life has only been violence; all she knows is the Purge – fighting every day to be able to see the next. Chichiue tries to keep her away from it, but it's hard to do when the entire country is becoming painted in blood of the kekkei genkai wielders. Kachiki in this life has only really known the colours blue and red. Kiri and Mizu no Kuni are shrouded in mist, rain, and sometimes even snow. Blue is a predominant colour no matter where you look – up or down you are looking at the sky and water. There isn't a lot of vegetation and the duo mostly live off fish and other staples that Utakata can still buy. He may be a missing-nin but few people are foolish enough to deny a jinchuriki or shinobi food.

Mizu no Kuni during the Purges is no place to raise a child. There always seems to be a fight happening somewhere, even travelling at night leave many paranoid about their own lives. Anyone so much as mutters about kekkei genkai and there is a chance that you will be cleaved before you get out another sentence. The Mizukage's shinobi are omnipresent and Kachiki has taken to dying her hair when she goes into town with Chichiue for fear of her hair being recognized and her life becoming forfeit. After the first few times having Chichiue come to save her she took it upon herself to hide her identity. She doesn't want to put her little family in any more danger than they have to be in.

They are planning to head to Uzu no Kuni; hopefully, they will be able to settle in Uzushiogakure for a while. It was rumoured that there was a treasure trove of fuinjutsu that Kachiki may be able to learn. Chichiue tells her that Uzumaki traditionally learnt fuinjutsu like Kirigakure learns suiton. She doesn't remember her kaa-chan, but remembers her chakra impression: warm. Similar to how Chichiue on the frigid days that the tent and military issue blanket just doesn't cut it and he envelops her in chakra. The warmth of a parent is what she remembers of her kaa-chan. If Uzushiogakure is where her roots lay, where she can learn fuinjutsu she thinks that she would like to see if she could learn about her kaa-chan's clan. They are skirting around Kirigakure – not certain if there is truth to the barrier or not, when Kachiki feels the presence of multiple chakras doing what she can only assume is battle.

Her sensing ability is something that Kachiki takes a lot of pride in. She has spent many years honing her natural ability and is proud to say that she _can_ encompass the entire country should she wish for it. Sensing for Kachiki will always be her biggest asset. It utilizes her hypersensitivity and allows her to focus on all the external chakra rather than simply her own. She finds it much easier to focus on external sensing. If she has nothing to focus on, she always makes herself sick. With no external stimulus, she automatically focuses internally. Feeling every bit of chakra flow through her body was necessary to learn chakra control, but she becomes so focused on herself that she loses all sense of what is around her. With extra stimulus, she doesn't have as much time to think and filter through the chakra that flows through her network and is reduced to a hum in the back of her head. If she focuses for it too long she practically breaks out in hives because of all the itching. She can _feel_ the chakra as it flows through her network, reaches her stomach, and adds a _wild_ quality to it, before circling back through her system. Sensing allows her to get the emotions and chakra levels of anyone that is under her range. With Chichiue, she has focused using it passively; he even promised that they would work on the possibilities of weaponizing it. She rather not fight and kill, but knows that this life is nothing but bloodshed. Living in the Bloody Mist during the kekkei genkai purges and insisting on being a pacifist is just asking to be killed. Using her chakra sensing she easily encompasses all of Kiri.

She knows that Patches spends a lot of time in Kirigakure, and once she pinpointed it on a map for Chichiue he got very pale and said that they should leave Mizu no Kuni while they still can.

Kachiki can feel the slaughter and the extinguishing chakra of what she knows to be the Kaguya clan. Passing by their clan district – pushed as far out from Kirigakure they are barely part of the city anymore; a trend that Kachiki notes with every other clan that houses a kekkei genkai, also known as a bloodline limit.

"Chichiue, there is someone else still in the district. Underground in some sort of compound. Can we go see?" Utakata acquiesces and they head off to an outcropping of rocks before the walk further under ground to a cell. With a boy a few years older than Kachiki.

"Hello, who are you?" Kachiki is appalled with how this boy is treated.

"My name is Kimimaro of the Kaguya clan. Who are you?"

"The name is Uzumaki Kachiki dattebane! I've never seen someone else my own age! Want to come with Chichiue and me? We're going away from the Purges." She tilts her head to the side.

"I can't. I'm to stay with the Kaguya, they are going to come back for me any minute and make me help them with their coup."

"Most of the Kaguya are dead. They're fighting right now but losing. We were on our way out when I felt you, are you sure you don't want to come?" She really would feel bad if she had to leave him to rot in this prison.

"If the Kaguya are dead, then I am a useless weapon and have no other purpose in life. You should just leave me to die." Kachiki shares a look with Utakata and pulls on his prison door, opening the bars for him to escape.

"You aren't a weapon. I know what a human weapon is. And they are wrong. Everyone is wrong. We aren't weapons; we aren't freaks. But we both understand, and we want you to come with us. We will help you find a purpose in life; you can be my friend. Chichiue can be your Chichiue too." Kachiki nods to herself and puts her hand out to help Kimimaro get up.

There is a moment of silence before he takes her hand and a party of two becomes a party of three.

oOo

Leaving Mizu no Kuni just got more difficult.

They exited the Kaguya compound after ransacking the district for any scrolls that will help Kimimaro as he grows up because they won't come back to Kiri unless they want to be killed. It would be all too easy to cull the last Kaguya and once they find out that there was an Uzumaki around they would kill her too. Kirigakure was one of the three nations that banded together to decimate Uzushiogakure along with Kumogakure and Iwagakure so she knows that she is not safe here.

Problem was there was only one road out of Kirigakure and into Mizu no Kuni. At least five nin loyal to Yagura always guards it, but with the Kaguya coup, there is one. Moreover, they are with a much smaller chakra reserve – a trainee perhaps?

Kachiki is not sure, but this is the best chance they have to get out and Utakata agrees with them. He jumps down to face their only remaining obstacle between them and impending freedom. Kimimaro flanks him as Kachiki waits in the wings for her chance to kill the guard.

"Zabuza-senpai." Utakata acknowledges, making a motion behind his back and Kachiki slips out of the surrounding mist and stands on his other side. "I never thought I would see you with a young charge. His bone structure suggests that he is a Yuki; none of the other clans share such distinct features. I would not have pegged you for a bloodline sympathiser."

"Utakata." Zabuza's voice is deep and grating, his chakra rolling in preparation for conflict. "We're leaving Kirigakure, you don't mention us and we don't mention you."

"Deal." He turns toward us. "Come along children, we have places to go." The voice is whispering in my head and as we pass by the young boy I whisper to him that we'll be in Uzushiogakure if they ever need help.

The three of us disappear with the Mist into our next great adventure.


	3. To Fuin or not to Fuin

**AN:** don't own Naruto! Thank you for all the reviews, including the guest and return ones! I hope you like the next chapter and feel free to review! Happy 2017!

 **Chapter 3: To Fuin or not to Fuin**

Upon entering Uzushiogakure, there was one feeling that was dominant in Kachiki's mind: sorrow. She was so upset that people had the capacity to hate, to _fear_ so much that the largest shinobi force known to man banded together to destroy her ancestral home. In each step they take further into the village Kachiki can _feel_ the remnants of chakra of her ancestors, in the dormant seals waiting to be used, in the nature chakra that seems to be brimming with life

Kachiki spent many days with Kimi-kun and Chichiue cleaning up the bodies that were decomposing on the ground, sweeping up debris, and burying the dead. It made Kachiki rage when Chichiue told her that it was strange that no Konoha shinobi had come to assist in the cleanup; the two hidden villages _were_ allies, and Utakata knows because of the last world war that they wear the crest of the Uzumaki, although in red, to honour their fallen brethren. Kachiki is angry for days after that until Utakata points out that _no one_ has entered Uzushiogakure since its destruction and subsequent fall. Chichiue says this could be because the fuinjutsu or seals, that the attacking three nations took down, were restarted and do not allow entry to anyone that isn't an Uzumaki.

Kachiki and Kimi-kun investigated this and found out it was true. If they left Uzushiogakure, Kachiki could enter and Kimi-kun could not unless Kachiki pulled him over. The seals recognized that an Uzumaki wanted them to have entrance. No one had seen this type of sentience in seals since the fall of Uzushiogakure. This made Kachiki believe that there was a traitor in Uzushiogakure because if Konoha, who had two seal masters currently, were not able to get in, she really doubts that the other villages, with _no_ seal masters, would be able to break them down. Konoha has had much more time with no success. A voice in her head sniped that it was possible that Konoha long ago gave up on Uzushiogakure and Kachiki grudgingly accepted it as truth.

However, this phenomenon is what caught Kachiki's interest to study fuinjutsu. Imagine what would be possible if she was on this level! Talking with Chichiue and Kimi-kun about this decision is what fueled her studies. Chichiue told her that they would try to stay as long as possible. They've spent a year getting comfortable, making a more permanent camp, and trying to make this ghost village at peace, no one would be able to find them and they might actually be able to live in peace.

Digging into the clan archives, which, despite the fight you could see remaining signs of outside, was immaculate inside. Kimi found that both he and Chichiue could not go past the entrance. Even Kachiki trying to pull them in did nothing. She hypothesized that it was Uzumaki only.

Months were spent learning the prerequisites to fuinjutsu – starting with calligraphy. Of course, given her unorthodox childhood, a lot of that was spent on learning to read and write in the first place. Chichiue explained that in the shinobi academy, students were taught the basics of reading and writing as well as arithmetic. Kimi had then mentioned rumors of the culling of each graduation class. Chichiue impressed upon them that it was mostly a rumor – yes it did happen in Zabuza-senpai's tenure at the academy and he actually killed the entire graduating class to prove his worth – but no. It is true; however, that Kirigakure took advantage of this and only sends out one graduated class to foreign chunin exams, as if there was ever only one survivor. The majority actually graduate and go straight into apprenticeships. Kiri doesn't really do teams like Konoha, only sending in similar genins together for a chance at chunin. The system in Kiri is tailored much more to the individual. Apprenticeships are much more common and their shishou's actually make their case for a rise in rank. The remaining 60% of graduates actually go (now) into Yagura's personal forces, or a more general pool of genin until they rank up.

The biggest boon to being an Uzumaki and learning fuinjutsu was their chakra. Their vast amounts made the shadow clone jutsu nearly effortless. It was highly suggested to learn this before learning harder fuinjutsu. Once she read what exactly this specific clone jutsu did – given to the Uzumaki specifically from the Nidaime Hokage! – she jumped at the chance to be able to retain the knowledge she could gain from clones.

After a week spent mastering the clone jutsu, she sent off a dozen of them to ransack the various storage rooms to gather fuinjutsu that she could learn. Especially the ones that the Nidaime Hokage gave back to Uzushiogakure before its fall. The hiraishin seemed interesting and very useful, but it was the hiraishingiri that made her want to learn it. Being able to attack instantaneously with a sword would be ideal. There was a petty part of her that also wanted to be greater than Kiri with a sword.

She threw herself into her studies, giving a dozen clones to practice calligraphy, another dozen to practice chakra control, while she practiced taijutsu with Kimi and kenjutsu with Chichiue.

It wasn't until near her eight birthday that she felt she was ready to start learning true fuinjutsu.

Chichiue remarked that it was probably her Uzumaki heritage that let her take fuinjutsu like a duck to water.

Kachiki _absolutely adored_ that she could do anything with fuinjutsu. **And she meant anything.** The Uzumaki used it in everyday technologies, in combat, in defence, in mundane tasks. There was a seal for everything. According to history, nearly everyone in Uzushiogakure was proficient in some form of fuinjutsu. That was what made them so feared throughout the elemental nations. No one could touch them if they didn't want to be touched.

Here was when Kachiki believed that the voice in her head was right. If there wasn't a traitor then no one would have ever entered Uzushiogakure. Ever.

The years flew by, Kimi and Kachiki grew stronger. It was fairly easy to become ridiculously strong when you have 6 years to solely train. Kachiki excelled in fuinjutsu, she mastered every technique and improved on many others. She's considered a master, and was probably the most knowledgeable in Uzumaki sealing since the fall of Uzushiogakure. She centered her fighting style around this, with thrown in aspect of kenjutsu and taijutsu. She utilizes her sensing techniques to become a superb assassin. She is the epitome of shinobi; she strikes when there is an opportunity and slinks off into the night. While she has the stamina to be a front line fighter, she only stays competent enough to hold her own. She thinks that if she has to take a life it will be in the quickest method possible. That was her main reasoning behind learning the hiraishingiri and hiraishin. There was no pride in death, and even less in being the killer. Front line specialists were much more in-your-face and used for shows of power. For her, there was no glory in taking a life, and so there was no reason to pretend to be anything else than an extension of the Shinigami skulking around in the dark. Team Chichiue, as Kachiki refers them as, uses the hiraishin to go to missions. They centre out of Takigakure, Kawagakure, and Kusagakure, taking missions to hone their skills but at the end of the day travelling back to Uzushiogakure to live.

For Kachiki, sensing is her life. She notices such small minutiae that it is as if she has super senses. The closest that Kachiki could describe it is similar to having be born blind to wake up one day and see – the sheer amount of stimulus is crazy and while it **burns** at the beginning Kachiki cannot remember what it is like _not_ sensing. She can vaguely recall a life before sensing, but it was so vastly different from anywhere she's travelled to she chooses to ignore it – the languages in both memories were the same. They both wielded something similar to chakra, but much time has passed, to the point that Kachiki struggles to remember anything – not even having a chakra impression to go off of. Chichiue has begun to help her change the nature frequency of chakra – something that he thought was impossible but after realizing that Kachiki could correctly identify any shinobi that she met their chakra nature upon a glance, realized that there was some genetic component to chakra natures. If one had a genetic component, it would explain why some natures were easier to learn than others were. If Kachiki could alter her own frequency than hypothetically, she would find it easier to manipulate other elements.

The next step would be to do this to other enemies – imagine a lightening shinobi suddenly having the chakra of an earth shinobi – this was still a long ways off for Kachiki, but she was pleased to know she can continue to work on changing her own chakra frequency.

They also experimented with chakra constitution. Each technique that was used in ninjutsu had their nature chakra frequency, but the constitution would vary – slower or faster, the chakra seemed to _hum_ in Kachiki's mind. She hypothesized that if she was able to match her chakra's constitution to an attack of whatever nature it would disintegrate or destroy the technique being used against her. Similar to how a positive plus a negative can give a neutral response. By having the same constitution grating against one another they would be seen as the same attack and it would cancel one another out. She has yet to gain the control to change constitution – changing frequency is hard enough, but Kachiki is determined to have this done within the next three years.

They've met up with Haku and Zabuza a few times, enough to be cordial to one another. Kachiki makes sure that Haku is given a hiraishin for safety reasons. Zabuza seems startled that Kachiki knows this jutsu. She tells him that it was in the Uzumaki archives and Zabuza mutters something along the lines of 'knew he was with red.' He then proceeded to tell them that this changes nothing and they will only call on them if they are in dire need. They promised they would come in mission attire either way so no one would be able to trace them together.

Kimi has become a menace to deal with on the battlefield. His body's regeneration capabilities paired with his kekkei genkai means that he is a close range fighter's worst enemy. He has mastered his bloodline, but still finds new uses for it. Chichiue made sure that if he is so proficient in taijutsu he must also practice something else. Kimi decided to specialize in ninjutsu as well considering Kachiki has all but abandoned that avenue. He knows that his sister, and that is what they all are now – a family, has no taste for violence. Others that see her during missions think that she is cold hearted and bloodthirsty – Kachiki doesn't wait for others to plead their case. She always will pause upon meeting them, as if she is talking to someone that is not there, then will either start talking to them or literally kill them. No one has noticed that whomever she talks to isn't guilty of the crime they've been accused of. Kimi asked her once what happened during those times. She said that she feels their chakra and can almost sense their amount of malevolence within them. If she feels that negative energy, she knows that they are responsible. It hasn't failed her yet.

The only thing that Chichiue has not explained to either of them was why they were so covered up. He knows that their father is a missing nin and would be hunted, but surely, they would not be as well? Kirigakure may want them dead for their bloodline but the rest of the elemental nations can't be like that? It was only when Yagura and Patches interacted more that the Purges started up. In the past years, there seemed to have been a lull in activity of Kiri – she suspects the rebellion has fully engaged and they are in an all-out civil war. In their mission attire, the three of them look like androgynous ghosts. All of them wear cloaks, Kachiki uses fuinjutsu to turn all their hair black, and a mask covers their faces. If Kimi knew all it would take was asking why he would have done it a lot sooner.

"What I am about to tell you is higher than an S-class secret. This is a matter of life and death, if anyone gathers information of what I am about to say it could mean my death. Do you understand?" Chichiue impressed upon them the severity of this discussion. Seeing both of us nods, Kachiki moves into a more attentive pose.

"This story starts before any of us were born. The Shodaime Hokage and Uchiha Madara formed the first shinobi village, Konohagakure. There was a race to have other clan's band together to form a village. This is where the five Kage villages were formed. To try and to promote peace the Shodaime found all nine bijuu and sealed them with the help of his Uzumaki wife and Uchiha Madara. They then gifted them to the other nations, as a symbol to deter war and promote peace. Over the years, this was forgotten. Madara used the Kyuubi to attack the Shodaime and suddenly everyone was training those that were sealed with the beasts, the jinchuriki, to use their beast as a weapon. When I was younger, I was sealed with the Saiken, the Rokubi. I was related to the previous Mizukage before Yagura and they usually seal a jinchuriki that is in some way related to the current power at the time. If anyone were to find out my true identity then there would be wars for Mizu no Kuni and Kirigakure to get their jinchuriki back. They still think I am wandering around Mizu no Kuni.

"But that's not all. Kimi, it is important that you are not found out, but very few people will remember the Kaguya. Your clan's coup was 6 years ago, and Kiri was in a civil war for nearly 15 years prior. Not many shinobi will be active and have knowledge about the Kaguya let alone their bloodline, which was dormant before you for centuries.

"Kachiki is the biggest problem here. Kachiki, I found you when you were days old in a bush. You father had abandoned you," here Chichiue hands over the letter that he found with Kachiki to her. He is silent and she reads it and wordlessly passes it to Kimi to read. "I took you in and raised you. You are Uzumaki and and jinchuriki, you hold the Kyuubi. I'm telling you this now because you are old enough to start using the Kyuubi's chakra should you decide to. I myself, found a comrade in Saiken and now I have full access to all six tails. It took me many years, so be prepared for an arduous journey should you chose it."

"Was my father a Kage if he sealed a bijuu in me?" Kachiki intoned solemnly.

"There is no true way to know that unless the Kyuubi knows it. Before you showed up, no one knew where the Kyuubi was. Everyone is under the impression that when the Hokage fought it, he killed it. I fear that the three of us are the only ones that know of the Kyuubi's existence."

Silence.

"My father isn't much of a father dattebane. If he just left me like this he doesn't deserve the title." Chichiue and Kimi nod their head in agreement, but Kachiki just plowed on. "I didn't even ask for this! I don't want to have a fox in my gut! I didn't ask for this! The Kyuubi sure as hell didn't ask for this! Why don't we get any say?! If I remove the seal, I die. I don't want this. I never wanted this!" Kachiki is on the ground pulling on her hair in aggravation.

"What is done is done, the most you can do is make friends with the Kyuubi." Chichiue consoles her the best he can.

"...that's not GOOD ENOUGH. The Kyuubi is a person too! He has feelings! I haven't talked to him but I can sure as hell tell you that he didn't **want** to be sealed up with no say in the matter! Mother died giving me life and my father think that stuffing me with a bijuu and abandoning me is the best plan?!" Kachiki is now pacing the length of their living room, her hair clipping her ankles as she walks. "My name was given to me by my kaa-chan. She told me to always be determined and unyielding. Fuinjutsu talks about if you don't like something, then change it. A kaze no fuin doesn't work for you? Try Kasai no fuin. The world is always changing but you're telling me Chichiue that jinchuriki have always been like this since their founding. Right?"

"Yes, but that is because there isn't another way to have bijuu sealed Kachiki."

"Exactly Dattebane!" She punches her fist into her palm for emphasis. "There isn't another way because people haven't **looked** for another way. **I** can find another way. I may not be able to release the seal without dying, but I am sure that if I tweak a few pre-existing fuinjutsu then I will be able to solve this problem. I'm going to solve this if it kills me!" Kachiki runs off into her workshop to no doubt draft some ideas.

oOo

It took her two months.

One month to contact the Kyuubi and actually talk about the seal. Kyuubi was not amicable.

She remembered waking up in what Chichiue called a mindscape, a mental area for a jinchuriki to talk to their bijuu.

oOo

Kachiki's mindscape was what she always thought Uzushiogakure would look like in its prime. Shining at sunset, gleaming reds of the sky and sun highlighting all the different stone that were found during their rummage: greens, blues, yellows, any colour you could think of was found in their walls, etched with fuins of varying difficulties. It was breathtaking. She only wished that she could have seen it in real life.

Kachiki continued to walk the main path of the village until she hit the centre, seeing a large building that she just _knew_ housed the Kyuubi.

She entered to see dim lighting, red eyes, and nine tails fluttering around him. This felt very familiar and she took the fact that the Kyuubi was sleeping to think about why. It took her a while, but she remembers the feel of his chakra and reasons that she _has_ had him with her entire life so of course his chakra would be familiar. Drawing down into a bow, she began talking to the Kyuubi.

"Ohayo. I'm Uzumaki Kachiki, your jinchuriki. I'm 12 years old, I like my Chichiue Utakata – he has Saiken, and my older brother, Aniki – Kimimaro, but I just call him Kimi. I don't like being told I can't do something, being caged, and killing. My goal right now is to free you without killing me. I'm in your care Kyuubi-sama."

A single red eye opens, piercing Kachiki to stay in place.

"You, a ningen, free me? The only way I am going to get out of this seal is if I claw myself out from it. You are not the first ningen to trap me, and you won't be the last." He dismissed my words as if he didn't just trample all over my dreams.

"Listen up Kyuubi-sama! I know you don't like me, and you have no reason to – but you shouldn't give up just because everyone else you knew was rotten! My father gave me away because I was a jinchuriki; I grew up in the Bloody Mist during the bloodline purges! I know how humans have a large capacity for evil! Believe me I know, but that doesn't mean everyone is horrible dattebane!" Her fists are clenched as she progresses in her speech.

"That may be ningen, but you don't deserve to use my chakra. You ningen are all the same – you take the chakra of my siblings and I and for what? To wage wars. You are but a kit and know **nothing** of the world. Leave me."

"I don't believe that. I may be young, but I know the cruelty of humans, of ningens. I will find a way to let you have freedom as we are both stuck like this. I didn't ask for this and neither did you. This seal is causing your death slowly. I don't want to be responsible for any more deaths than I need to be. I already have enough chakra – I don't need more. You have to be lonely here and if I figure out a way, Saiken can be with you at least. You'll also have me. And Kimi, and Chichiue!" The Kyuubi huffs before staring at her. The silence creeps on and it has been minutes before the Kyuubi sighs and huffs.

"Kurama."

"What?"

"My name, kit. It is Kurama. You remind me of the old man. If you succeed with me and Saiken, I may just tell you about him."

"Arigato Kurama, I won't let you down or else I'm not Uzumaki Kachiki!"

oOo

A month later and it was finally the day. She has combined and refined, many times, a projection fuin, which originally allows pictures to come off a page like a movie, with a transmutation fuin, that changes an object into something else of equal value, with a distance limiter fuin, that only allowed something that was linked to Kachiki's chakra to travel a certain distance, and a size fuin – depending on the chakra flow would grow bigger or smaller.

This would either go perfectly, or go horribly and probably kill everyone here. However, her name wouldn't be Uzumaki Kachiki if she just gave up.

Drawing up the fuin and making sure there were no mistake took a little over two days. Inspecting it for no flaws took longer than the actual drawing of the fuin.

 _Ready?_ She thought to Kurama in her head.

 _Either way I would get to leave this damned seal._ He was ready. Kachiki slams her hands in the middle of fuin and everything lights up. She can feel the chakra from the fuin slink up her arms and legs and slide into the seal over her stomach to blend into the pre-existing script. No one was crazy enough to alter a bijuu's seal. That's why jinchuriki's have been the same since Hashirama's time. However, she wasn't _really_ changing the seal – it was more like stepping to the right to avoid a puddle (common sense if you asked Kachiki). _Kachiki_ was crazy enough. In theory, the projection fuin would give Kurama his mental link; the transmutation fuin would give his chakra a physical form. The only reason there would be a distance limiter and a size fuin was so Kurama would remain with her and not attract too much attention, Kimi also told her that people might get nervous if Kurama was suddenly wandering the Nations.

Her eyes were closed, but the light was so bright that it was searing the inside of her eyes. She could feel the fuin was finished and she laid on the now barren ground and just focused on breathing and trying to see.

Minutes passed and she could feel Chichiue and Kimi restlessly pacing around the defensive barrier she placed prior to the sealing.

She slowly opens her eyes, glancing to the side to see a large fox lazing around, staring at everything around him, taking in the world for the first time in Kami knows how long. Kachiki gets up and starts to dismantle the barrier when he speaks.

"And pray why, ningen, do you think I would let you live after this? I could slit your throat and be done with you before anyone could come help you." He emphasizes his point by opening his jaw and surrounding my neck with it. The killing intent of Kurama flows out of him and Kachiki is surprised at how much she is unaffected. She has been living with this grump for 12 years. She supposes that with the close contact with his chakra that she can tell when he is pulling his punches. He definitely is right now.

"I know you can kill me six ways to Sunday before I changed the seal. Should you decide to kill me I won't be able to stop you. But I trust that you wouldn't do that Kurama. You've become my precious person just like Kimi and Chichiue. I trust you." A snort and Kurama sags back to the ground, not even bothering to respond. I continue to dismantle the barrier.

oOo

Kachiki has had a lot of time to reflect on her family. Specifically her biological family. She knows that her mother died in childbirth. But her father is a whole other matter. She doesn't understand why he would let her be sealed but then give her up. It doesn't make sense to her. Upon learning that she has the Kyuubi – and _he_ wasn't even supposed to be alive – the Yondaime Hokage has supposedly killed it, then she can guess who her father is. Kurama confirms that Namikaze Minato was the one that sealed him in her and, apparently her twin brother.

She really doesn't like to actively hate people, so she learns to get over it – or at least only hate him if she ever meets him. Keeping a twin brother and leaving the sister just isn't right. Kiri doesn't even separate twins, let alone siblings, thinking them stronger together – the demon brothers as one example. She won't ever go looking for her father despite her wanting to know why she was abandoned like last week's trash in the middle of Kiri, but she resigns herself to never knowing.

As much as she wants to hate her tou-chan, she knows that if he never did what he did she would never have met Utakata – her Chichiue, Kimi – her aniki, she most definitely would not have had the circumstances to alter Kurama's seal, and she would not be able to have the chance to help Chichiue's partner Saiken. For her, knowing the consequences of his actions changed her future so much; she doesn't regret that she was left alone. Maybe even thankful for him, because she doesn't regret where she is now, and if she was raised as a Kage's child she could imagine the pedestal she would be put on and the pressure to succeed in the shinobi forces.

Her childhood wasn't even that bad. Yes she had to grow up much faster and was nearly killed every day ( _if not by the mobs hunting during the purge then surely almost by Chichiue's training_ ), but she doesn't think it was _bad._ Surely not enough to want to change it. Her home always has been with Chichiue and now with Kimi that she doesn't care where she goes as long as those two are with her. She loves Uzushiogakure and would easily stay here for the rest of her life.

While her tou-chan may have been worse than scum, she cannot help but be thankful that he inadvertently gave her her current family.

oOo

Another week and Saiken has physically joined the group. Though he much prefers to stay chibi-size and lounge on Chichiue's shoulder. Kurama prefers to be the size of a small horse and trots next to Kachiki much like a ninken.

Kachiki is 12, Kimi 15, and Chichiue 23 when they decide that they need to spice things up a bit. They have a sense of wanderlust and can feel the itch under their skin to be more active. Sparring and training with one another gets boring after so many years, and by now Kachiki has outgrown the archives and can do her fuinjutsu on the road. They done their mission gear and head toward Yugakure.

They're not on the main land for more than half a day when Kachiki alerts them to Haku's hiraishin fuin has been activated.

Everyone latches onto Kachiki, Saiken and Kurama shrinking down to sit on their junchuriki's shoulders and in the next instant, they are on a bridge in the middle of Nami.


	4. I admit, I did not expect that

AN: thanks for all the reviews (those that I couldn't reply to: guest and Misaki-sama – thank you too)! Please feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think! Thanks to beartes also for telling me that something went wrong in the upload – hopefully that's all fixed now. I don't own Naruto.

 **Chapter 4: I will admit; I did not expect that (a brief interlude by Hatake Kakashi).**

Hatake Kakashi was a broken man. He was 95% positive that someone in a past life must have cursed his ancestor to live in interesting times. His father killed himself, his team is all dead, and his sensei is a former shell of the man Kakashi remembered him as.

The day that was supposed to be the happiest in Minato-sensei's life instead was the saddest. He lost both his wife and someone kidnapped his daughter.

Minato-sensei spent the next 6 years raising Naruto, governing Konoha, and trying to find his daughter.

"Inu report."

"Hai Hokage-sama." Inu stood up from his kneeling position, as did the rest of his ANBU team. "There has been no sign of Kahicki-hime. No traces of the masked man either."

Minato-sensei took a deep, shuddering breath before exhaling.

"Team Inu. Make sure this order is sent to all ANBU, jonin, and chunin. As of today, Uzumaki Kachiki will no longer be looked for and is consider a long running S-rank mission. Anyone that passes to the rank of chunin will be made aware of Uzumaki Kachiki and if anyone has any information will come forward and next steps will be made. Dismissed."

They left to tell everyone. Within 4 years, the Hokage was pressured to change the order and the next day Kakashi had one more name on the memorial stone to mourn.

oOo

Whatever the Hokage was thinking, he has no idea what actually prompted him to give Kakashi, of all people a genin team. Let alone this specific genin team. He has consistently failed any team that he is contracted to, and he doesn't see any snot-nosed brat understanding the bell test.

Until Namikaze Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura.

His view of the world gets a little wider after that.

He immediately regrets accepting those three when he learns that teasing Itachi about his brother complex will only mean that Itachi is aware that Kakashi is aware of said complex, meaning he loses no face when he comes to bug them and actually get Kakashi to teach _something_. Worse when he brings his cousin Shisui.

Kakashi knows that there was some dissonance within the Uchiha clan and the village, sowed by the ex-elder Danzo, several deaths of Uchiha elders, and the removal of Shisui's eye. Suffice to say Danzo was no more upon Minato-sensei realizing how deep his machinations ran. Unlike Sandaime-sama, Minato-sensei had no personal issues with stopping Danzo, when he brought his business underground versus cease and desist as ordered; well, Danzo found out why Iwa calls Minato-sensei 'Iwa butcher'. To this day, they are still trying to go through everything that Danzo did with Root. Minato-sensei is not even positive Danzo was dead, he said something along the lines of 'when men live underground, they always find a way to come crawling back'.

With the Uchiha's main opposition out of the way and the other two elders retiring to make room for Hiruzen-sama to become an elder along with Jiraiya-sama when he's in town, and Tsunade-sama, which Minato-sensei had come back to the village 2 years after the Kyuubi attack, things became much less stressful.

Minato-sensei had no problem letting Uchiha's take whatever mission, if they allowed others that wanted to on the police force. Everyone in the village was much more cohesive. After the Uchiha almost-rebellion blew over, Itachi at 13, resigned from ANBU and took up a position as a jonin, Shisui remained in ANBU and is still crazy.

Therefore, Kakashi resigns himself to having three brats and two older brats on his team.

It takes Naruto a month to get tired of the D-ranks. Naruto begs to get a C-rank at their next mission debrief with the Hokage. Kakashi can see how much Minato-sensei sees Kushina-san then – while Naruto may be the spitting image of Minato-sensei, his mannerisms, gestures, speech, and temperament all scream Kushina-san.

So Minato gives them a C-rank. Escort the bridge builder and guard him while he finishes the bridge. Routine mission.

Until two missing-nin that are chunin level try to kill the bridge builder. That makes this a B-rank. At least. The bridge builder squeaks under questioning but easily tells them of Gato, a rich man that is trying to take over Nami and that this bridge is their last hope.

They decide to continue on.

That was a mistake.

They barely survive Zabuza's encounter. Kakashi may have been slacking since being forced out of ANBU, but surely his skills hadn't deteriorated so much that he nearly fell to an A-rank missing-nin? If it wasn't for the hunter-nin, Kakashi and his team would not have survived.

Kakashi gets Naruto to use his toad summons, courtesy of his father, to send a message telling them of the situation and to see what he wants them to do. The situation is so far out of their control, jumping up to an A-rank with a possibility of an S-rank if Zabuza had any friends. Though he doubted Gato hired any more, Zabuza was the highest known shinobi he ever put on his payroll.

Minato-sensei answers that night, a toad poofs into existence carrying two certain Uchiha and a hiraishin kunai. He is surprised that Minato-sensei wants to be included in the fight, but thinks it may have something to do with his son being the one threatened. Since Kachiki's kidnapping and supposed death Minato-sensei is much more protective of his son.

Itachi and Shisui assure that they are not to interfere in the mission unless absolutely necessary.

oOo

The final stand of Zabuza and his accomplice is occurring over the bridge. Kakashi realizes that the environment is much more to their liking than Konoha's but Sasuke and Naruto are holding their own to the accomplice. Sakura is guarding the bridge builder. Itachi, Shisui, and Minato-sensei are all watching this happen. Mostly watching Sasuke and Naruto battle, neither Itachi nor Shisui have seen Hyoton, ice release, at work, ever, and are interested in what is happening.

Sasuke and Naruto have broken a single mirror when Zabuza yells across the battlegrounds "If you think you can defeat us that easily, you have another thing coming." This seems to mean something to Haku who grows a dome of ice around both Sasuke and Naruto and smoke encapsulates the area.

Minato-sensei shoots out a widespread ninjutsu to blow away all the mist and smoke, Kakashi can see nothing new, but can make out some additional scents; however, they are all encased within the hunter-nin's dome.

oOo

Kachiki definitely did not expect to be summoned within Haku's ice mirrors – the situation must be more desperate than they originally thought.

"The two leaf shinobi are genin; try to incapacitate them rather than kill if you're able to." Haku states between throwing sebon at the two who've had the misfortune of being caught. One of them seems to be an eyesore of shinobi – wearing orange and having bright yellow hair. Kachiki at least uses a henge tied to her mask to hide her hair when she goes on missions. She also would have thought that, like the other genin, he would wear colours that would match their surroundings better. It's almost as if he's just asking to get a kunai in his back.

Considering it is leaf shinobi, Kurama disappears back into the seal to take a nap and avoid the fighting. Kachiki's heard stories about leaf shinobi as being eccentric, powerful, and the friendliest of the nations, but looking at their genin, she doesn't really see it. She can see in their chakra and body language that they aren't as smooth in their dynamics as she would expect. A team that was sent out for the mission she assumed would be not only well versed with each other, but also much more powerful – bordering on jonin almost – considering that the if this were Kiri it would be classed at an A-rank; these ninja look as if they are fresh out of the academy.

"Ha! If you think getting more people will make us lose you have another thing coming!" The eyesore boasts; while silent, his black-haired companion seems to agree. Utakata disappears back into one of Haku's mirrors and covers his retreat with a genjutsu – hopefully he will be able to make it to Zabuza before something happens to him.

Kachiki and Kimi stay silent as they observe their new enemy. Haku is throwing at a high speed, easily enough a low chunin level and both are easily dodging the sebon. Kachiki immediately places them at chunin level. As Haku starts adding in his ice sebon, she signals to Kimi what she knows. Kimi will take the black haired genin while Kachiki will take the blonde eyesore. She passes him a knockout tag and they signal Haku to distract them.

It takes a few more minutes, partially letting them tired themselves out and partially because they've been trying to escape the ice domes with little luck. The black haired boy has activated his sharingan during the battle, and while they seemed to cause trouble for Haku – he has managed to brow beat them into submission. They've tried a ninjutsu combination of fire and shadow clones to escape the dome but Haku's jutsu is holding strong. Kachiki and Kimi have been waiting for the number of people to go back to the original two so they aren't knocking out a shadow close and losing their element of surprise.

Haku aims for the blond eyesore what most would assume is an immediate kill shot. The black haired boy sees this and his eyes flash red as he darts in front of his fellow genin, aiming to save his teammate. It is while they are both looking at each other that Kimi and Kachiki strike. Kimi grows a bone shield out of his back, stopping all the sebon in place while he smacks the tag on the apparent Uchiha's back. Kachiki body flickers behind the blond and activates the tag on his neck. Both are knocked out without any chance of regaining consciousness for ten minutes. Plenty of time for everything to wrap up here.

"So, what's the story with them Haku?" Kimi prompts as he secures ties on the two ninja.

"They were hired by the bridge builder we have to kill." Haku murmurs as he starts collecting sebon. By keeping up his dome, he allows them some semblance of privacy – the benefit to using knockout tags is that if any of the opposing ninja's are sensors, they have to be A-ranked at least to sense the differing chakra patterns of unconsciousness. It's safe to bet that any sensors believe they are still awake and fighting. They'll have a few minutes to regroup and plan their next step.

"So the bridge builder is next or helping Zabuza?" Kachiki chirps from the other end of the dome.

"The bridge builder is being protected by the third genin, two jonin, and their Hokage. I think it's safe to say we'll be helping Zabuza-sama. He'll have to instruct us on next steps. With the heavy protection detail there isn't anything we would be able to do without giving away major advantages – or losing our lives." Haku ends ruefully.

"Who even wants this guy dead? We're not really in any big city – what's the motivation?"

"Gato wants to kill the bridge builder so he'll have exclusive rights to Nami – not really a mission we wanted to take, but we can't be choosy and with this mission under our belt Zabuza-sama will have enough for the rebellion and we can go back to Kiri."

"...You really want to go back?" Kachiki whispers, thoughts of the Purges running through her head.

"My will is the same as Zabuza-sama's. He fights for the old Kiri, before the Purges, I will follow him."

"Gato isn't known to be reliable. Quite the opposite – he's known to use the missing-nin to defeat the opposing side and either die in the conflict, or kill the missing-nin while they are vulnerable after attack to keep the payment to himself. Someone mentioned it in one of the bars last months while we were on our way to Yugakure."

The three of us share a loaded look before the three hear chirping birds and then dead silence. Haku immediately drops one mirror, letting the others crash into the floor of the bridge, and flickers over to Zabuza, Kimi and Kachiki following.

oOo

Kakashi is about to chidori Zabuza when he's honest to God caught in a bubble.

First a water prison and now a bubble.

This entire month hasn't been Kakashi's month.

He's floated back to the Konoha contingent before his bubble pops and he barely lands on his feet.

There's a lull in the fighting as each side takes in the new faces.

The three newcomers are similar heights, wearing outfits similar to hunter-nins. Their gender is unknown and their clothing is a simple cloak that helps them blend into the water around them. Masks on their face have no origin sign, and are actually blank. Upon one shoulder is a slug, a personal summons perhaps. The other two have no animal with them. The original hunter-nin has moved to stand beside Zabuza.

"What have you done to Sasuke-kun and Naruto-sama?!" Sakura shrieks as she sees Shisui and Itachi return with two bodies.

"Calm down Pinky, they're knocked out but otherwise in fine health." One voice replies.

"If you're lying I swear to Kami I'll kill you myself!" All the Kiri-nin seem to just _look_ at Sakura and she shrivels under all the attention. Zabuza laughs before voicing:

"We have no quarrel with Konoha anymore."

"What makes us so certain you're not just saying that?" the silver haired one poses.

"Gato is on his way; you'll see then. He's just getting to the bridge." One of the newcomer's articulates to the group at large.

"Brat." It's spoken in a monotone, but Kakashi can hear the questioning tone underneath. The remaining shinobi all turn to face the three newcomers.

"Just wait until he shows up, he's a minute away, tops." So a sensor shinobi then, should things prove different, this will be a hassle to stop her.

The minute is filled with tension as both parties return to their original sides; it is the 7 Konoha-nin, 2 unconscious, facing the 5 nuke-nin, though where the three are from Kakashi hasn't the foggiest.

He can hear Gato waltzing up to the bridge.

"Figures that the demon of the Bloody Mist is too soft to take down the Konoha shinobi. Doesn't matter anyways, my mercenaries are more than enough to finish the job! Whoever takes down the bridge builder will get the money from Zabuza!"

The sensor shinobi cannot help but snort and Kakashi is sorely tempted to agree with them. Does Gato not see that there are 7 Konoha-nin that are all in fighting condition?

"I suppose this counts as helping, but we'll still be in touch." The summon-less one says.

"I reiterate, it seems we have no quarrel." Zabuza says before rushing into the fray to kill Gato – and no doubt prove his status of 'Demon of the Bloody Mist' Kakashi lets him have at it, his hunter-nin following in the fray after him. The other three just seem to be content to watch and only step in if need be.

"How did you know about Gato?" Minato-sensei asks the newcomers.

"Gato isn't known for his loyalty." The slug summoner says dryly. "There's been whispers if you know where to look." He turns toward the other two "this is why we collect information before we take a mission. Reconnaissance is an important shinobi art." So the slug summoner seems to be at the top of their hierarchy.

"Gato is a jerk dattebane! Anyone that meets him would know!" She turns toward the fighting, "Haku why didn't you figure this out?! I expect it from Zabuza but not you!" Kakashi can feel the jerk that Minato-sensei gives off, and the inhaled breathe from the two Uchihas on the other side of him. The two nuke-nin return, Gato's head in the scroll Haku's holding while bodies are strewn over the bridge and many retreating backwards.

"Apologies Kachiki-sama, I know you have taught me some tricks to sensing chakra, but we cannot all be on your level." Haku snarks back at the sensor, Kachiki. Kakashi can feel Minato-sensei's chakra fluctuating, frozen between hope and anger. Kakashi realizes this must be because of the verbal tick 'dattebane' and the fact their name is Kachiki. However small, this may be either Uzumaki Kachiki or a clue to where she is. Kakashi's eyes narrow for any further slips of information they can give.

"Anyone with eyes can see the slimeball that Gato was!" Kachiki jests back, the third one mirroring his teammate, echoing "slimeball" to Haku.

"..Kachiki?" He hears Minato-sensei question in a voice that is not his own, it seems much more vulnerable, and all too hopeful. "Namikaze Kachiki?" The Kiri-nin all snap out of their petty argument to focus on Minato-sensei.

The three figures exchange glances and close rank around Kachiki.

"I thought it was always proper manners to introduce yourself before asking for someone's name?" And if that comeback wasn't pure Minato-sensei Kakashi would turn in his hitai-ate when they get back to the village. If the actual chuckle of Itachi and Shisui didn't send him into cardiac arrest first. His genin are flipping back and forth between what seems to be happening here, and the massacre Zabuza is currently performing.

"Namikaze Minato." Sensei's voice sounds tired, but much more confident than before.

"Hm." She puts her hands under her chin as if she is contemplating the information. "No. I'm not Namikaze Kachiki. Uzumaki Kachiki at your service. If you knew I existed I'm surprised you didn't turn me over to Patches." Shisui makes some strangled noise in the back of his throat as he tries not to laugh.

"I didn't know you had black hair." Sensei is just baiting them now, but seeing who was behind the mask would let them know if it was a male or female. Kachiki after all is a male's name.

"I didn't know the Hokage was aware I existed." She shot back before answering, "My hair isn't black – it's a henge." Shisui scoffs before he can help himself.

"Yeah right, Itachi and I would have seen through a henge with our sharingan." She tilts her head to the side before answering.

"True, if the genjutsu was anchored to a person or environment. Ours isn't. You have yet to disrupt the chakra so you have yet to break it."

"There's no genjutsu that isn't placed on a person or surrounding area."

"Then, tell me, O' all-knowing one, why you have yet to see what colour my hair is?"

"Duh. It's a bluff – your hair is black." If Kakashi didn't know any better he would say that Shisui is actually just arguing for the sake of arguing rather than prompting the shinobi to show her true hair colour.

"Fu—OW!" She begins to speak before the slug one hits her upside the head. "It's not like he would have understood what I said – he's from Hi no Kuni, he doesn't even speak that language." A look sent through the mask makes her shiver and turn back toward Shisui; she bows at the waist, "Sorry Uchiha-san, that was rude of me." She pointedly looks back to the slug summoner until he nods.

"...no problem? Not sure what really happened, if we're being truthful but I'll just assume it was insulting. Not surprising seeing you try to avoid admitting that your hair is black." She shoots him another look through her mask – Kakashi is admitting it's probably a 'not impressed' before she sighs and removes her mask. Her hair changes into a blood red as her mask is fully removed. So she wasn't lying. With that off, Kakashi and the rest of the Konoha-nin can see her face.

Kachiki is a miniature Uzumaki Kushina. Her hair, her eyes – everything. It seems that as much as Naruto takes after his father, Kachiki does with her mother. Even if she has Minato-sensei's personality and Naruto his mother's. Sensei has all but frozen, making a near gurgling sound, similar to Shisui, and Kakashi is sure that sensei is restraining himself from going up there and taking Kachiki.

Kachiki for her part is looking at the Konoha-nin as if they were crazy.

"Sugoi. Chichiue always said that the leaf were crazy, but I've never seen something like this on a battlefield. Desperate fighting, Haku calling us, a betrayal and now this." She turns to look at the slug summoner. "Chichiue, do Konoha-nin always look like Uchiha-san and Minato-san? They look kind of wimpy..?" Sensei recoils as if someone physically hit him, whether it was because she called the other man father, or because his daughter just insulted him. A hum from the slug summoner and Kachiki seems to take that as 'yes. Konoha-nin are this crazy.' "...Okay," Kachiki seems to take a step back, as if she can avoid whatever is happening to the Konoha-nin. Kakashi doesn't even know at this point. He's running on automatic functioning at the moment. "This was nice, love to do it again sometime, thanks for inviting us Haku but we really got to get going, people to see, dango to eat, sacrifices to be made – okay BYE!" Kachiki rushes out all at once and all three disappear in an instant.

Hiraishin.

She knows Hiraishin.

The only known jutsu of it, Kakashi knows, is in Konoha. No other place would have a copy. The Nidaime wouldn't just give that out.

Suddenly she's back. Before anyone can react, she's grabbed Zabuza and Haku and has disappeared again.

"She's alive." Sensei breathes out; staring at the spot that Kachiki disappeared from.

 _Well, that certainly happened._ Kakashi thought to himself.


End file.
